Greene's Pour House's owners in Neenah have done what a number of prior tenants in their building have wanted to do — they've expanded upwards. / Submitted

Written by

Maureen Wallenfang

Post-Crescent staff writer

Greene’s Pour House’s owners in Neenah have done what a number of prior tenants in their building have wanted to do — they’ve expanded upwards.

Various bar owners who’ve been in that 150-year-old downtown building at 134 W. Wisconsin Ave. have looked at the upstairs space’s tall windows, downtown views and great potential, and said they planned to renovate it. Back in 2009, one bar owner gutted the second-floor space but didn’t go further.

The space finally became a fully functioning, finished space under current co-owners Bobby Greene and Stuart Taylor.

They kept original brick walls, wooden beams and wooden floors. They added bathrooms and finished the large bar using original wood they found in the building.

“We didn’t start in earnest until mid-November,” said Taylor. “It took about six weeks. It’s 90 percent done.”

The upstairs space debuted for New Year’s Eve, and is now getting a few finishing touches, like more coolers in the bar and a dishwasher.

The space will be used for both public and private functions.

“It’s a bar and private party room,” he said. “It will be a restaurant extension on Saturday nights.”

Taylor said renovations cost about $50,000, and they got a grant for a heating system from Future Neenah.

That corner building was known as Caliban’s for about 25 years. Over the last decade, it housed a succession of bars including the Chatterbox, CornerStone Pub and 5 Generations Sports Bar & Grill.